<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Old Traditions, New People by Lora_Blackmane</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23222626">Old Traditions, New People</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lora_Blackmane/pseuds/Lora_Blackmane'>Lora_Blackmane</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Zine Pieces [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, どうぶつの森 | Animal Crossing Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Family Reunions, Fluff, Gen, Returning Home</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:35:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,047</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23222626</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lora_Blackmane/pseuds/Lora_Blackmane</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After several years Lora's little sibling finally returns home! Although neither of them are fully the same people who last met, one thing is clear to them both as the day moves on: somethings (sometimes traditions, sometimes love) don't change.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Zine Pieces [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1712656</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Old Traditions, New People</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My 2nd piece for Pokecrossing!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"Hey Isabelle!" Isabelle turned towards the voice calling her to see Macho waving her down. "Have you seen the mayor, mach?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Isabelle shook her head as she messed with some of the papers in her arms, “no, no I haven’t. I’ve been looking for her because I want her to look over some ideas for the garden. I don’t know where she could be...”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Isn't Dani coming today?" Veler called out from the other side of the river as he walked by. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Isabelle started to frantically flip through her planner, “oh my goodness, you’re right! Thank you Veler!” She ran towards the train station, only stopping when someone grabbed her from behind. She became incredibly grateful soon afterwards, since a pair of wheels quickly rolled through where she was originally. “Watch out Isabelle. The mayor’s on a roll - literally, swee.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Dani's almost here! Dani's coming home!" She sang as she spun around the platform, occasionally being pushed away from the tracks by her best friend Tom. "Lora please calm yourself, grrr."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah; and stay </span>
  <b>
    <em>away</em>
  </b>
  <span> from the tracks! I'm not dealing with that paperwork again!!" Porter yelled from behind his desk. She stopped in front of the entranceway and turned towards him, fingers bouncing across the armrests of her wheelchair. "Sorry Porter. I'm just so excited! Don’t worry though, I’ll try not to become a pancake."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Porter opened his mouth to retort-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Whoooooo!</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span><br/>
</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span><br/>
</span>
  </em>
  <span>She sped towards the side facing the tracks. “She’s here!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A primerina shifted through some paperwork as he spoke. “Don’t worry mayor, I know your sister and I guarantee you… she won’t be fazed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hope so… Arik?” The primarina turned towards his mayor, stopping his work to look at his mayor. “Yes Joshua?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It is no problem, sir.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The train slowly started to stop, the boy’s heart pounding against his bones the closer it got to the terminal. He was starting to regret waiting to tell her till now, but it was too late now. I’ll just have to deal with it, he thought as the train stopped.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stepped off the train, looking around for his sister.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dani! Over here!!” He turned towards the voice, before freezing - causing both him and Arik to almost fall over when he ran into Joshua. His sister… rolled over to him, in a black </span>
  <em>
    <span>wheelchair</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and quickly pulling him into a hug. It seemed they both had something to tell the other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He put his arms around her and waited for a second before he awkwardly started the conversation, “Hey, big sis… what - what’s up with the wheelchair?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She flinched. “Oh- this ol’ thing? It’s nothin’ kid. I just got into… an accident,” quickly she moved him so she could see his face, “but enough about me sis how-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey- hey sis?” She looked up, still grinning from ear to ear, quieting down to hear what he wanted to say. He took a deep breath before quietly saying, “I’m… I’m not Dani anymore. I’m Joshua.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She blinked a few times, seemingly taking in the news, before a small shy smile “Well… do you still like flowers Joshua?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah… yeah I do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> A grin broke out across her face, and she pulled him away from the station, rambling about the new flower arch she had made - decorated with his favorite flowers - and how much the garden had changed since he had been here last. He looked back at Arik, who smiled and waved as he was taken away, and smiled back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was nice to know his sister’s love for him would never change.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Joshua soon came to realize that her love was not the only thing that hadn’t changed. Her citizens were still as lively as ever, if the butterfree barreling down into the garden was any indication. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Madam mayor!" Piewing screamed, waving their arms frantically.  "Madam mayor, they're here, swee!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes!" Tom lifted the mayor up - wheelchair and all - and ran towards the beach as they both hollered with excitement, Isabelle trailing behind them reminding Tom not to break her wheelchair again. Joshua and Arik trailed behind them, not wanting to get run over by her excited townspeople who were also running to the beach, but equally excited for the event they knew was about to take place. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had forgotten it was pyukumuku season.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Several pyukumuku were wandering around the beach in a confused manner, perfect for chucking. Joshua didn't remember how this tradition had started within his sister's town, but nowadays it was a tradition loved by everyone within her town - especially Tom. He grabbed onto the shoulders of one of them and started to spin, gaining enough momentum to chuck the pyukumuku at least a mile away. He bowed towards Lora like an actor who had finished their play and she started clapping enthusiastically before holding up a sign with the number '10' on it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Before her accident his sister used to challenge the citizens of Melmoon to see who could throw them the furthest, and it seemed like the challenge was still on, albeit in a new direction. Joshua watched the others chuck them into the sea with grand throws for his sister to judge happily next to the ramp that lead back to town. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're going down this time, Tom!" Bouncee screamed as she threw a pyukumuku so hard it skipped across the ocean. It went a little farther than Tom's first pyukumuku, and she turned to him with a gleeful smirk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When a pyukumuku flew past them, going farther than either of their throws. They both turned towards where it flew, seeing Arik dust off his suit jacket with a smirk. The tension between the competitive trio ignited, and they ran off to grab more pyukumuku to chuck. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Joshua laughed as he watched them chuck the poor souls into the ocean, then walked over to the ramp and sat next to his sister. He had never really enjoyed joining in the tradition, but it was certainly entertaining. A few minutes later Lora shoved several signs towards him, each one holding a different number. He gently took them from her grasp and she smiled at him before turning back towards the participants, throwing up an 8 sign into the air enthusiastically. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He smiled and held up a 9. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This story is dedicated to an old friend. If you download the zine, you might notice a note at the end of this piece. That note and this story were based off our 1st meeting after he transitioned. My family picked him up and our conversation as somewhat awkward because of the elephants in the room (my recently injury and his new appearance), so the ride home was like, "so.. You broke your foot huh?"<br/>"Yep. So how you been gir-"<br/>"actually... I'm not a girl anymore."<br/>"...Cool bro, you still like animal crossing?"<br/>That wasn't the full conversation, but that's basically how my friend coming out to me went. He still like to use this interaction to poke fun at me by the way. Anytime I see him he goes, "you still like animal crossing b!tch?"<br/>It's been almost 6 years since that event, and I still haven't lived it down. (Also side note, it wasn't actually broken btw, I twisted it before I got in the car so it was surrounded by icepacks and a yellow towel)</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>